Where does the universe end, or does it just go on and on and on? There has to be a dead end somewhere?
Common misconception - the universe isn't a whole lot of stuff in an infinity of nothingness. The universe is the space itself and all the matter in it. Simply put, the universe doesn't end.
What this means is that at the big bang, the universe itself - all the space there was to be in - was very small, and both the space and the matter in it expanded very rapidly.
To quote from wikipedia, where it's more clearly stated: "Third, the curvature index k determines the sign of the mean spatial curvature of spacetime averaged over length scales greater than a billion light years. If k=1, the curvature is positive and the universe has a finite volume. Such universes are often visualized as a three-dimensional sphere S3 embedded in a four-dimensional space. Conversely, if k is zero or negative, the universe may have infinite volume, depending on its overall topology. It may seem counter-intuitive that an infinite and yet infinitely dense universe could be created in a single instant at the Big Bang when R=0, but exactly that is predicted mathematically when k does not equal 1. For comparison, an infinite plane has zero curvature but infinite area, whereas an infinite cylinder is finite in one direction and a torus is finite in both. A toroidal universe could behave like a normal universe with periodic boundary conditions, as seen in "wrap-around" video games such as Asteroids; a traveler crossing an outer "boundary" of space going outwards would reappear instantly at another point on the boundary moving inwards."
So basically: The universe is infinite. It might simply go on forever, or it might be that if you continue sufficiently far in one direction, you 'wrap around' and end up back where you started - we don't have enough information at the moment to know which is the case.
And thanks for asking the question - I'm now more informed than I was before, too. :)
It's all about thinking and believing... Education, thoughts and science develops depending on past experiences.. We think there must be an end in everything just because almost everything in our environment got a beginning and an end.. and we've never seen endless sth. When thinking about whole universe, you must not compare it wit things you see on earth.. The reality is always endless.. It's believed that such infinite things occur mostly because they are in cycles.. But it can only b true for some extent because till now we've only seen cycles to b endless.. There can be any shapes our brains can't imagine that causes 'infinite' You'll learn that philosophy when you learn any religion..
Have a good thoughts.. :P But just don't think so serious... Or you'll be delivered to a mental hospital for endless cure.. :D
...well, there doesn't really have to be an end to the universe, because even if you were to go so far that there weren't any more planets or stars or anything, you would just be in open, empty space. "nothing" is still part of the universe. -and if it's still part of the universe regardless of whether there's something or nothing, than it COULD go on forever. we'll just have to wait and see, I guess.
If space is infinite there could be an infinite number of universes. The entire known cosmos could be less than a speck of dust compared to this enormity.
there is a song about it it. it is called The Third Planet by Modest Mouse from the album The Moon and Antartica check it out
suckitup1389, im totally on your side. your my hero.
suckitup1389b
dont laugh , its true .
Only God knows - the Creator.
